U.S. Congressman Maurice Hinchey. . . on Edna Kearns’ suffrage wagon

“Thank you for contacting my office with regard to your Grandmother Edna’s suffrage wagon. Her story is an outstanding example of how women here in New York forged the path to the passage of the 19th Amendment and I am confident that people in the 22nd Congressional District and beyond would welcome the opportunity to see this part of our history on permanent exhibition.”

From a July 27th letter from U.S. Congressman Maurice D. Hinchey, 22nd District, New York, to Marguerite Kearns.

In a period of time when the rights of women to self-determination are again under attack, it’s good to be reminded of this “vehicle” for positive change from another, even more difficult time. Women need to know that our foremothers endured persecution, imprisonment, and physical abuse in the struggle for the rights to property, education, and employment that we now take for granted. The suffrage wagon is an historical artifact of great beauty and significance. It was in caravans of wagons like this one that women and supportive men arrived at Seneca Falls in July 1848 to attend the Women’s Rights Convention, and to sign the “Declaration of Sentiments” that demanded full equality for women. I hope, the next time I’m in Albany, I will be able to see it displayed. In the still-unfinished quest for liberty for all in America, it is as important and evocative an object as a Colonial musket or a marker commemorating a stop on the Underground Railroad.